2016—Leaf Cutter Ants

You’d think that after the ant invasion I had in my house from 2008 to 2011 I would have no tolerance for ants, but that memory seems to have faded somewhat. Faded because the ants I photographed were not in my home but crossing the road in Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula. These are leaf cutter ants. They seem to carry their weight in leaf pieces. The first two shots show one ant removing a severed piece of leaf and transporting it along the leaf stem. Eventually, the ant and its cargo arrive at ground level and move the leaf pieces to wherever they’re moving it. The last shots are an ant’s eye view (using my macro lens on the ground in the first of the series). It was difficult to see what I was doing that low to the ground so the shot isn’t in perfect focus but it gives an idea of the ants crossing the road with their cargo.